The
Isle of Portland is not really an island, however it is only joined
to the mainland by a narrow strip of land and the Chesil Beach. The mass
of land that juts out into the channel is formed from a block of
limestone 4.5 miles long by 1.75 miles wide, it rises from near sea
level in the south to over 400 ft high in the north.

Portland
has been inhabited since early times and traces of occupation have been
dated back 7,000 years. The Romans knew it as ‘Vindilis’ and Thomas
Hardy wrote about it as ‘The Isle of Slingers’ due to the fact that
Portlanders used to throw stones to keep Kimberlins (strangers) away, it
is a Royal Manor and many of the quarries which dot the landscape are
owned by the crown. The breakwater which forms one of the largest
harbors in the world, some 2130 acres, was started in 1849. Prince
Albert laid the foundation stone on the 25 July and Albert Edward,
Prince of Wales laid the last stone on 18 August 1872. The twenty three
years of construction had cost the lives of twenty two men, most of the
construction was carried out by convicts. These convicts had hewn
5,731,376 tons of stone to form the breakwaters and the cost in 1871 was
£1,167,852.

Portland
Castle at Castletown was built in 1539 following attacks by the French,
its partner at Sandsfoot, Wyke Regis is now but a ruin due to sea
erosion of the sandstone cliffs. The Castle is built of Ashlar stone,
the finest Portland Stone available, and cost £4,964 at its completion
around 1540. It is one of the best preserved of Henry Vlll’s castles
and is of interest as it shows the transition from medieval to more
modern methods of fortification. These days the Verne is a prison, but
it was originally constructed as a citadel for the army and held 700
men, though in time of war it could accommodate over 2000. It was
heavily fortified and was heavily armed with 30 ton guns.

To
the east of the island is Portland Harbour, sheltered by breakwaters
constructed in the last century by prisoners from the Verne Prison on
Portland. From 1872 to 1985 this was one of the United Kingdom's main
Naval bases, which is now closed as a result of the end of the Cold War
and 'down-sizing' of military forces. One part of the Navy presence
remains until 1998 - a Royal Naval Air Station which trains helicopter
pilots, and is the largest purpose built Hele-Port in the world. A
Search and Rescue helicopter service runs from here.

The
coastline of Portland is very dangerous to mariners, especially at night
and in fog, and the Southern tip of the island is dominated by a
lighthouse, which became automatic in 1996, and there are plans to turn
it into a tourist attraction. Nearby is a smaller, older lighthouse, now
used as an observation tower by ornithologists.

Portland
owes its international importance to this stone. Quarrying was for many
years the main industry on the island, and the use of the stone extends
from St Paul's Cathedral in London to the United Nation Headquarters in
New York.

Indigo
Jones had used Portland stone before the Civil War, and Sir Christopher
Wren, Weymouth’s MP, used it to rebuild London after the Great Fire of
1666. St Paul’s Cathedral and some fifty other churches and other
buildings were built with the famous white limestone. Over six million
tons were used in the rebuilding, the stone was loaded onto barges from
piers on the east side of the island then transported along the coast
and up the River Thames to the building sites.

In
1972 approximately 600 tons of stone were quarried for the restoration
and repair of St Paul’s Cathedral. Included in the delivery was a
block originally selected and marked for Sir Christopher Wren, 300 years
earlier.

The
stone was also used for the Whitehall Cenotaph, the national memorial
for the dead of the Great War. A special quarry was opened at Wakeham
for the carefully selected stone, and the order from the Commonwealth
War Graves was for half a million headstones, all were shaped, carved
with names and badges and shipped from Portland to the Western Front.
Over 800,000 gravestones were also produced in the 1950’s for the
nation’s war dead of the Second World War.